Tuesday 30 August 2016

Caitlin Moran Has Changed Me Forever


I've had a bit of a blogger epiphany this week, mainly thanks to the great and mighty literary powerhouse that is Caitlin Moran. I've been on a mission recently to re-read pretty much everything she's ever written and I came to the conclusion halfway through Moranifesto that I've been approaching blogging all wrong since I finished University. 

First and foremost, it was my need to write my way out of my ME/CFS-induced misery and frustration that lead me to start this blog over 6 years ago but I started worrying that nobody wanted to hear about my spoonie life and struggles. I was brought up on the premise that one does not express one's feelings, values, or insecurities, should they upset or offend anyone else or come across as a little bit loopy. So I quickly fell into the blogger/PR trap of thinking that I had to have companies throwing products at me in order to produce valuable content that people would actually want to read. 

That side of blogging dried up for me when I took an extended pause during my final year of Uni and then moved out of London back to Derbyshire after graduation. No posh events, no exciting launches...  no more free Prosecco and macarons, for heavens sake!! I felt very uninspired and out of the loop and have never quite recovered. 

I've been operating under the assumption that my day to day life is pretty boring and that, unless I've got a specific project or product to write about, I have nothing much else to offer the internet and, as a result, not much blogging has been happening at all. Nobody wants to hear about my mundane, day-to-day, 30-something neuroses, right? Apparently wrong! I hadn't got much further into Moranifesto than page 46 - 'Printers are Evil' - when an atomic bomb went off in my head; 'OMG I'm actually relating so hard to this! I am no longer alone, going through life trapped in a box in my own head, feeling like a complete oddball! Is this actually what people want to read about?' 

If that really is the case then I am suddenly bubbling over with inspiration. The limits have suddenly fallen away and I am staring out into a vast wilderness of possibilities. Much scribbling in notebooks and wide-eyed grinning has happened since then. I'm going to be embracing the randomness and having a good old chuckle at myself in the process. I vow to shout from the rooftops about my pathological fear of YouTube, my ongoing battle with stress-eczema, and my unhealthy obsession with kimchi.

Don't get me wrong though; this blog will still contain more of the usual. I'm still going to be rambling on about carbs, veganism, makeup, office furniture, and anything else exciting that I discover on my awkward amble through daily life. It'll just be peppered with random thought-nuggets from inside my head from here on out. I do hope that's alright with you lot.

So, thanks a bunch Caitlin. I remain, as ever, your loyal and humble disciple.
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